Mountain Biking - Are Shimano "Shadow" derailleurs a big deal?

For the last few years I have been punishing the life out of a SRAM X.9 drivetrain and am thinking about finally replacing. The rear derailleur is pretty much loose at every pivot point and has seen better days. The shifters are not bad and definitely ebay possible material worth a few bucks.

I have ended up with a set of XT shifters and thinking about going back to a Shimano drivetrain. I thought the SRAM performed well, but so did the Shimano.

So anyway... is the "shadow" really anything special compared to the standard? Besides the low profile making it somehow less likley to get hit by a rock shaped like a fist is there a performance difference?

Mine works nicely. I like the cable routing that they copied from SRAM, too.

If you could get the standard for the same price, would you buy the shadow again?

Standard vs Shadow for same price...yup. If for the only reason of cable routing. That 100'sump'n degree loop that a standard XT makes can cause more cable friction...which I don't like.

-cable routing
-positioned in tighter so you don't bang it on crap
-doesn't flop around like the standard Shimano's do...it's static. My old XT bonked the chainstays on bigger hits causing a "clunk" noise

It's a no-brainer IMO...I'm a Shadow supporter.

I love the X.9 stuff...I just had durability issues with mine, so I went back to XT.

I agree with everything Chelboed has said. I have an SLX Shadow, and I like it. Doesn't flop around anywhere near as much as my old chunky Deore, thus meaning less chain slap and much less noise.

I have been using a Shadow Xt for 4 months now. Luke 52 is right, it does not move as much. There is one problem with them though, they are a pain in the @ss to get set up, you have to really play with it, to get it right. Or at least that was the case with mine, and I have been told the same by several other users. But once you get it dialed in, it shifts like a dream. I haven't adjusted mine in 3 months as of now.

they are a pain in the @ss to get set up, you have to really play with it, to get it right. Or at least that was the case with mine, and I have been told the same by several other users. But once you get it dialed in, it shifts like a dream. I haven't adjusted mine in 3 months as of now.

Mine was easy to set up. 5 min and I haven't done squat widdit since.

Mine was easy to set up. 5 min and I haven't done squat widdit since.

Yea, I have an SLX shadow RD and it was the easiest to set up RD I have used. It's needed no adjustment, doesn't flop around and hasn't gotten caught on anything. If it ever breaks, I will replace it with the same.

Plus one for the shadow XT, love mine was also pretty easy to set up...

Had one not so long ago, was great, piece of cake to setup aswell!

I actually don't like the shadow deraillieur.

y_?

y_? For me and they type of riding I do, a short cage does just as well, which kind of defeats the purpose of a shadow deraillieur.

they make at least a mid cage xt, and doesn't the saint come in a short cage? i assume you mean DH for a short cage (single front close ratio rear) so wouldn't the xtra spring power and less bashing of the shadow help out alot

on another note check out the 2010 sram stuff its pretty nice, they really trimed it down, and now the cable pinch is moved inwards so you don't snag the cable, its pretty nice, The shadow stuff is still lower profile however

I mean short cage as in road bike short cage.

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2008/04/17/RD-M810-480-90-480-70.jpg

pretty short, work well with that 11-23

if you like the old stuff thats cool w/e (if if you don't wanna drop the $$ for saint) but it exists!

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2008/04/17/RD-M810-480-90-480-70.jpg

pretty short, work well with that 11-23

if you like the old stuff thats cool w/e (if if you don't wanna drop the $$ for saint) but it exists!

I'm willing to drop it on the saint, being that I'm using an XTR short cage on the dmr, which is set as a 1x3.